Through the Long Night
by Slick1
Summary: Songfic; Takes place right after "Stalker"


**The Long Night** ****

**by Sarah Brown**   
**sbrown@slbrown.com**

_JAG and the characters are the property of Donald Bellasario, Paramount and CBS. No copyright infringement intended._

* * *

Harm rushed over to Mac and untied her. She jumped up and he pulled her into his arms. 

"Mac, are you okay?" he asked anxiously. 

"I'm okay now," she said with more certainty than she felt. 

"Come on, let's get out of here," he said. She let him lead   
her outside. 

"We can pick up your car tomorrow," Harm said. "I'll drive   
you home." 

Mac started to protest, but she realized she was too shaken   
up to drive. She was trying to be a tough Marine, but inside she   
was reeling from the events of the last twelve hours.   


Mac's Apartment   
Georgetown 

Harm walked Mac to her door and followed her in. She had   
been eerily quiet on the way home, and he was worried. 

"Mac, can I get you anything?" he asked in concern. 

"Water. I need some water. He poured . . . I need to get   
the taste out of my mouth . . ." she said disjointedly. 

Harm understood. He had smelled the liquor on her   
breath and her clothes. He hurried into the kitchen and brought   
her back a bottle of spring water. She took it from him   
gratefully and drank greedily from the bottle. 

"Maybe you'd feel better if you got out of those clothes and   
took a shower," Harm suggested. 

"You're probably right," she agreed, turning toward her   
bedroom. Then she turned back anxiously. "Harm . . . do you   
think you could . . ." she stopped, embarrassed. 

"Stick around? Just try and get me out of here," he assured   
her. 

"Thanks," she said, grateful he understood. "I'm fine   
really, I'm just a little . . . jumpy." 

"You have a right to be a lot more than jumpy," he said.   
"You've been through a real ordeal. I know SEALs who would be blubbering like a baby if this had happened to them," he said, glad that his comment drew a small smile from her. 

Mac turned back toward her bedroom. Shutting her door, she stripped off her ruined dress and climbed into the shower.   
She stayed under the hot spray for long minutes, scrubbing and   
scrubbing, trying to wash away the feeling of her stalker's hands   
on her. As she washed, she thought about Harm. How he had come to her rescue. How earlier in the evening he had come to talk her into going the Admiral's party, even after the horrible   
things she had said to him earlier in the afternoon, when she had   
been drunk for the first time in years. All the time looking at   
her with warm blue eyes and an understanding face. He was such a good friend to her. 

She toweled off and slipped into an old t-shirt and a pair   
of shorts. When she walked out of the bathroom she saw that Harm had turned down the bed for her, lit some candles on the bedside table, and placed another cold bottle of water within reach. 

He turned and smiled at her as she walked toward him. She   
smiled tremulously back at him. 

"Let me tuck you in," he said, leading her over to the bed.   
She climbed in and let him pull the sheets up to her chin. Then   
he pulled a chair over to the side of the bed and sat down. 

"Mac, do you want to talk about what happened tonight?" he   
asked gently. 

"No!" she said. "I don't want to talk about it, I don't   
even want to think about it. He killed Dalton because of me, and   
then he touched me . . ." As she said the words, she began to   
sob. 

Harm stroked her cheek and whispered to her, letting her cry   
out her fear and pain. Her sobs increased, and she began to   
shake. 

"It's okay, Mac, you're safe now. He's gone, he can't hurt   
you anymore," he said softly. As she continued to cry, he got up   
and walked around to the other side of the bed, climbing in next   
to her and pulling her against his chest. Tears ran down her   
face and onto his shirt as he tried to comfort her. She wrapped   
her arms around him and held on as if her life depended on it.   
He knew that tomorrow she'd be back to acting like the strong,   
stubborn Marine he knew so well, but he was glad he could be   
there for her while she still vulnerable. 

As her sobs quieted, he began humming, then softly he sung   
the words to a Billy Joel song he had always loved, making it a   
lullaby for her. 

_The cold hands_   
_ The sad eyes_   
_ The dark Irish silence_   
_ It's so late_   
_ But I'll wait_   
_ Through the long night with you_   
_ With you_

_ The warm tears_   
_ The bad dreams_   
_ The soft trembling shoulders_   
_ The old fears_   
_ But I'm here_   
_ Through the long night with you_   
_ With you_

_ Oh, what has it cost you_   
_ I almost lost you_   
_ A long, long time ago_   
_ Oh, you should have told me_   
_ But you had to bleed to know_

_ All your past sins_   
_ Are since past_   
_ You should be sleeping_   
_ It's all right_   
_ Sleep tight_   
_Through the long night with me_   
_ With me_

_ No, I didn't start it_   
_ You're brokenhearted_   
_ From a long, long time ago_   
_ Oh, the way you hold me_   
_ Is all that I need to know_

_ And it's so late_   
_ But I'll wait_   
_ Through the long tonight with you_   
_ With you*_

As he finished the last note, he looked down to see that she   
was fast asleep. Reluctantly he eased out from under her and settled her on the pillows, pulling the covers back over her shoulders. He reached out his hand and gently touched her cheek, careful not to wake her up. Then he climbed out of the bed. Grabbing a pillow and the extra blanket that rested at the end of the bed, he walked out to the couch. Tomorrow she would tell him she could take care of herself. Tonight he would watch over her.   


THE END   


_* "Through the Long Night," Billy Joel, Glass Houses, 1980, Sony Music Entertainment Inc._   
  


_This story copyright 1999 by Sarah Brown, all rights reserved._


End file.
